WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has set the U.S. refugee admission limit at 17,500 for fiscal year 2027, continuing a policy that gives primary preference to white South Africans while shutting out almost all other displaced people across the globe, The Guardian reported.
The refugee ceiling determination, officially published on Sept. 25, maintains historically low entry figures compared to the 125,000 annual threshold established under former President Joe Biden. In fiscal year 2026, which ended on Sept. 30, the U.S. accepted 16,292 refugees under the 17,500 cap, with nearly all arriving individuals being Afrikaners apart from five people from Afghanistan, according to The Guardian.
Humanitarian Groups Criticize Policy Shifts
Advocacy organizations have expressed outrage over the directives, warning that thousands of thoroughly vetted refugees facing severe dangers abroad have had their resettlement halted. Kennji Kizuka, policy director at the International Rescue Committee, told The Guardian that the administration’s actions dismantle decades of work meant to ensure admissions decisions remain humanitarian rather than politicized.
“They were ready to go and then everything was pulled out from underneath them,” Kizuka said regarding refugees whose previously scheduled travel was canceled at the last minute.
Administration officials defended the policy, citing executive orders issued after Trump returned to office. A State Department spokesperson told The Guardian that the administration is prioritizing Afrikaners who are fleeing what officials describe as government-sponsored racial discrimination. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump “has provided a lifeline for Afrikaners” and continues processing their cases out of humanitarian concern.
Trump and his supporters have repeatedly asserted that white farmers and the white minority face racial violence and persecution in South Africa. However, the South African government has firmly rejected claims of white genocide, emphasizing that such allegations are unfounded and that violent crime is a broader nationwide problem.
Legal Challenges and Stalled Applications
The International Refugee Assistance Project challenged the administration's actions in federal court, arguing that the system illegally prioritizes one demographic while denying clarity or exceptions to hundreds of thousands of people awaiting entry.
Court records detail instances of families separated or left in perilous conditions, including an Armenian Christian man whose departure from Iran was blocked despite prior approval, and an Iraqi mother whose family had to leave behind an unlisted child in an African camp, The Guardian reported. An appeals court largely backed the administration's authority, sending the litigation back to a federal district court in Washington state, where proceedings remain ongoing.
Disinterest Prompts Proposed Outreach Campaign
Despite the administration prioritizing South Africans, applications from the group have lagged behind internal expectations. A State Department proposal revealed that federal officials drafted a plan to allocate approximately $335,000 for focus groups, surveys and a six-month digital advertising campaign to find out why so few Afrikaners are applying, The Citizen and The Times of India reported.
Whether the proposed promotional push will materialize or change application numbers remains uncertain, as federal judges continue to review the legality of the admissions policy.
